


Who We Fight For

by 27noir



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Drabble, I'm still mad about engames, M/M, No Beta We Die as Men, engame spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-22 13:43:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22150342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27noir/pseuds/27noir
Summary: He’s never run so hard in his life, stumbling a little over the debris and his heart pounding hard in his chest to the one thought in his mind.Bucky. Bucky. Bucky.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 12
Kudos: 65





	Who We Fight For

**Author's Note:**

> I hated the ending to Endgames with a fiery passion so I rewrote it to my liking. 
> 
> The only good part of Endgames was Steve using mjolnir don't @ me
> 
> unbata'ed drabble

Steve sees Bucky step through the portal and it takes everything in him not to throw himself across the rubble of the battlefield to throw his arms around him. Thanos and his army stand before him, and even as the odds change with every person they’ve lost stepping back into reality to fight—and to win this time, they’re going to _win_ this time—Steve wants to _know_ it’s Bucky. Steve wants to put his hands to Bucky’s face, to feel him solid beneath his touch, to tell him he’s never going to loose him again.

But there’s a fight yet to be had, so Steve just catches Bucky’s eyes and tries to smile, hoping Bucky knows everything that he’s feeling. Given the way Bucky looks back, Steven thinks he does.

They throw themselves back into the fray where they fight side by side once more.

It will be the last time. Steve knows even then.

Even before Thanos drift into dust—the instant Steve knows they’ve won—he’s running. He’s never run so hard in his life, stumbling a little over the debris and his heart pounding hard in his chest to the one thought in his mind.

_Bucky. Bucky. Bucky._

He doesn’t realize he’s calling his name until he sees him and Bucky turns and lets his gun fall to the ground. Steve doesn’t hear him, but he sees Bucky say his name and Steve doesn’t even give him an instant to do more than that because Steve’s got his arms around him, hands clutching at whatever part of Bucky he can.

He’s here, _he’s home_ , and he’s not going to loose this again.

Bucky pulls away, and Steve’s heart sinks with sudden dread that maybe he’s had this all wrong, that maybe—

But Bucky’s hands are cradling his face and he’s saying Steve’s name—“Steve, Steve, _Stevie_ , it’s okay”—

Bucky kisses him. He kisses him like they’ve been doing this for years—like they should have been doing before the fall, for fuck’s sake, if only they had an ounce of sense—and Steve tightens his hold on him and kisses him back like the world has ended and there’s nothing left but this.

The world’s just beginning, it got its new start, but this is all that really matters to Steve. _This_ is what he was fighting for. This is who he was fighting for.

They lost people in this fight, ones the stones will never be able to make right. They’re going to carry their deaths with them, Steve and all of the Avengers, as they live on in this world they saved. Steve’s never going to forget them, like he will never forget Peggy. But she was right. It’s time to stop living in the past. 

The world has always seen him as a solider. It’s hard not to see himself as one too, after everything. But the shield is broken and the one person who knew him before the suits and the title—the person who _loved_ him before all that—is kissing him like he too has nothing left but this—nothing left but Steve—and the decision is easy.

He’s got a life to live yet. One where he doesn’t have to fight to find purpose in it.

Sam takes the stones back. The timelines restore themselves. They grieve their dead, but they can’t go back anymore and Steve wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/nellerific) and [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/akingofinfinitespace) if you're there!


End file.
